Intracranial Venous Malformations

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Intracranial venous malformations are abnormally enlarged veins in brain. Venous malformations are a type of blood vessel abnormality in the brain or spinal cord.

Vascular malformations arise from errors in the morphological processes that shape the embryonic vascular system during fetal development. These developmental errors result in abnormal clusters of blood vessels. Although these lesions are present at birth, they might not become visible until weeks or even years after birth. Typically, the lesions grow in proportion to the growth of the child. A vascular malformation will not disappear without treatment. Vascular malformations occur in 1.5% of the population and the male to female ratio is 1:1[1]. The symptoms can vary, and they include cosmetic complaints, tissue ulceration, pain, swelling, and functional limitations. In some patients the symptoms are mild, in which case conservative measures might be sufficient. In contrast, patients with severe symptoms might require more invasive treatment. Surgery, interventional radiology, laser therapy or a combination of techniques are used in the treatment of vascular malformations.

The most important goal AVM treatment is to prevent internal bleeding from rupture, because which can lead to stroke / death. However, seizure control or stabilization of progressive neurological deficits are occasionally treatment goals. Though medication may be prescribed, it does not cure AVMs but medications are used to control pain and seizures. The management options for brain AVMs include observation or various treatment techniques, such as endovascular embolization, microsurgical techniques and stereotactic radiotherapy used alone or in combination with varying degrees of treatment-associated morbidity and mortality.